sample pa review questions

Question:
The nurse is reviewing the red blood cells lab reports of several children who completed their treatment regimens to improve their anemia. Which child‘s condition is most improved due to the treatment?

Rationale:Option 1: The student nurse should hold the sterile solution 4 to 6 inches above the sterile field. Pouring the sterile solution from 9 inches would lead to splashing, which in turn contaminates the sterile field.Option 2: Student B should not store the sterile solution for further use. Reusing the opened container will lead to contamination.Option 3: Student C’s action is correct. The sterile bowl should be placed at the corner of the sterile field, which would prevent the nurse from reaching over and contaminating the field.Option 4: Student D should wear the gloves after adding the supplies to the sterile field. Adding supplies after donning the sterile gloves would contaminate them.

A skilled test-item writer carefully “engineers” construction of the stem of a question.

The construction has specific goals:

Firstly, the item writer must be confident that test-taker clearly understands what is being asked in the question.

Secondly, there must be sufficient information that leads the test-taker to the correct diagnosis or away from incorrect diagnoses.

Thirdly, when the question asks for the preferred therapy, there must be appropriate information, for example, renal function values, or a co-existing condition, for example, pregnancy, that leads the test-taker to the correct response.

In my earlier entry, I wrote about common errors made by test-takers. Probably the most common error made by the test-taker is that he or she hurriedly reads the stem without careful attention to all details.

This is the time of year that many new graduates in the health professions prepare for national certifying examinations.

I write from several perspectives: a professor with many years’ experience in medical education, an experienced test item writer who served on a national certifying board, and as the author of two medical review books.

A certifying examination is a “two-way street.”

The test item writers must be careful in constructing the stem of questions. As an example, the skilled writer tries to do the following: